Defence ministry, in report to SC, fears all kinds of threats in way of polls

A war with India could also be a possibility in case elections were held in Punjab

ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) –Ministry of Defence, in its report submitted to Supreme Court, has enumerated multiple threats faced by the country in way of elections in Punjab.

The defence ministry feared there could be spike in cross-border terrorism, instability in the country, threats from the TTP, IS fighters returning to Pakistan from several countries,

he ill-designs of the Indian spy agency RAW and even there could be an all-out war with the neighbouring country in case the elections were held in Punjab. The defence ministry also submitted an application with the report requesting the court to withdraw its election-date order.

The report noted that elections in Punjab would fuel fault lines in Pakistan and might encourage India’s foreign intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to take benefit of ethnic issues, water disputes, and other issues.

A charged environment in Punjab might lead to instability in the country, the report said. It highlighted that there were several threat alerts received against senior leaders of different political parties, mostly in Punjab.

In case terrorist alerts are materialised, it may cause chaos and further deepen the existing political polarisation, which could lead to instability and breakdown like what happened after the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, the report said.

Against the backdrop of the highly charged political environment in Punjab and other parts of the country in general as well as the element of violence recently introduced in the politics, the possibility of clashes among the political workers of different political parties had risen exponentially and could complicate law and order situation and might be conducive for terrorists, it said.

The security situation over the last few years had necessitated the concurrent deployment of many armed forces troops on both the eastern and western borders of the country, said the report.

India continued to challenge Pakistan’s response capacity through frequent violations along the Line of Control (LOC) and international borders, it said.

Along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, elements like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) persistently attempted infiltration, and several exchanges of fire with the interim Afghan government elements had taken place, the report maintained.

Utilising territory of neighbouring countries, were constant challenges along the Pakistan-Iran border, with eight cross-border incidents since January involving the martyrdom of nine soldiers.

A fresh wave of terrorism had emerged in the Punjab province with 150 threat warnings received from 2022 to April 2023 by security agencies. It said sleeper cells of terrorist elements were active in Punjab, especially south Punjab, and even in Islamabad, as evident from the high-profile attacks, the report said.

Moreover, India would continue with strategic coercion, including through terrorism in Pakistan, and exploit any opportunity at operational and tactic levels for limited military action to all-out war, the report feared. The report, however, hoped that the recent understanding among China, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan to counter terrorism would produce better results in six to eight months.